- Subring test
In
abstract algebra , the subring test is atheorem that states that for any ring, a nonemptysubset of that ring is asubring if it is closed under multiplication and subtraction. Note that here that the terms "ring" and "subring" are used without requiring a multiplicative identity element.More formally, let R be a ring, and let S be a nonempty a subset of R. If for all a, b in S one has ab in S, and for all a, bin S one has a - b in S, then S is a subring of R.
If rings are required to have unity, then it must also be assumed that the multiplicative identity is in the subset.
Proof
Since S is nonempty and closed under subtraction, by the
subgroup test it follows that S is a group under addition. Hence, S is closed under addition, addition is associative, S has an additive identity, and every element in S has an additive inverse.Since the operations of S are the same as those of R, it immediately follows that addition is commutative, multiplication is associative, multiplication is left distributive over addition, and multiplication is right distributive over addition.
Thus, S is a subring of R.
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